Retirees Are Less Confident About Having Enough to Live On

More than 30 million full-time workers don't have access to a retirement plan at their workplace, nor do millions of part-time or independent contractors. Oregon is among five states in the country now requiring employers to automatically enroll workers in a Roth IRA retirement savings plan. Employees can opt out, but if too many do, the plans could fail.

The economy is strong and stocks are near record levels. But a long-running survey shows retirees’ confidence in having enough money to cover basic living expenses has dropped over the past year, due in part to concerns about medical expenses.

Released Tuesday by the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute, the survey shows that 80% of polled retirees are optimistic about their ability to afford basic expenses, down from 85% last year.